cruiseluv

Hope Cova or any other of our Basque contributors can give me some info about what goes on during this festivity. My understanding is that this year it takes place between August 20th- Aug 28. I'll be in Bilbao on Aug 25th, just for one day during a cruise stop . Can somebody shed light as to what's going on in the streets, specially in the area of the Guggenheim and around the Casco Viejo? Are the activities mainly at night or also during the day? Is traffic a mess during the day?

Thanks for any info.

mikelg

It´s a great festival. There are activities from morning to very, very late night, during 8 days. The Casco Viejo is full of street shows (Basque dances, rural sports, activities for kids,clowns, cooking competitions, street theatre, music, ...), everything is free, and at night there are concerts by popular international bands. At 11PM, firerockets from the river onto the city, International Competition. And then, the night beging...there are temporary bars on the street that offer drinks and food and music and shows...open well into next day. At 0800, vaquillas (small bulls) in the bullring. Fun, fun, fun...for everybody. Spectacular. And extremely safe. I´ve had guests that could not believe it when they saw what was going on, constantly, everywhere. If you check Aste Nagusia on the internet, will find more info on the program of activities. Guggenheim area: concerts at night, basically.

mikelg

It´s a great festival. There are activities from morning to very, very late night, during 8 days. The Casco Viejo is full of street shows (Basque dances, rural sports, activities for kids,clowns, cooking competitions, street theatre, music, ...), everything is free, and at night there are concerts by popular international bands. At 11PM, firerockets from the river onto the city, International Competition. And then, the night beging...there are temporary bars on the street that offer drinks and food and music and shows...open well into next day. At 0800, vaquillas (small bulls) in the bullring. Fun, fun, fun...for everybody. Spectacular. And extremely safe. I´ve had guests that could not believe it when they saw what was going on, constantly, everywhere. If you check Aste Nagusia on the internet, will find more info on the program of activities. Guggenheim area: concerts at night, basically.

cova

I was going to say that Mikel would be more up to date regarding the Aste Nagusia than I could be.
Here you have the program for the 25th of August :

http://tinyurl.com/asteng25


Most of the interesting things are going on in the evenings ( concerts, fireworks ... the Pepe Habichuela gig at the Plaza Nueva sounds pretty good to me ), and you will likely have to be back by then in the cruise ship, but you can still experience some of the fiesta during the day. And very important, the pintxos bars will be open by then, because many of them go on holidays now, before the big week.

Another place that it is not mentioned in the official program is the Alhondiga, and they are going to have activities during the festival. You must visit it, if only for the columns, the very nice shop ( Shoppa, everything from kids toys to gourmet olive oil) and the rooftop bar.

It´s a good thing that your stop is on the Thursday, specially if you want to do some shopping. because Friday is a bank holiday and everything will be closed down.

I will probably be going to the Russian Red concert in Barakaldo that day.

Bye, Cova

kimhe

Aste Nagusia has to be experienced. Great program for your day, and - even though not very much to do with Basque culture - Pepe Habichuela is one of the finest flamenco guitarists in the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77tFtBbZezI

cruiseluv

Thank you so much, appreciate all the background info and links. It's too bad the ship is leaving sort of early, at 4:00 PM! I would have loved to see the fireworks and attend the concert.

Any specific pintxo bar that you recommend?

cruiseluv

Do you know if public transport( ie buses, metro) works as usual? Thanks again.

cova

Public transport as normal ... or even more often than usual. From the harbour, I think your best metro option would be Gobelas. I´ll try to find out if there is any kind of public transport from there to the metro.

Pintxos ... right now I am becoming in love with Bitoque de Albia. Expensive, but so good ...
http://www.bitoque.net/web/

Bye, Cova

cova

Cruiseluv, I don´t remember if you speak spanish, but here you have a pdf from the Getxo town council explaining how to arrive to the harbour. I suppose there will be taxis waiting there, but I cannot remember for sure.
http://www.getxo.net/castellano/turi...legar_2011.pdf

bye, Cova

cruiseluv

Gracias Cova, very helpful.

yes, I speak Spanish!